"True Blood's" Season 6 finale was a beginning as much as it was an ending. After the events of "Life Matters" made it clear that the vampires at the Vamp Camp were safe, the series didn't take long making it clear that Warlow is in fact the evil creature everyone originally thought he was. When Sookie tries to ask him to date her instead of forcing her to marry him, he flips back to the wrathful creature that viewers were first introduced to and tries to force her to become a fairy vampire.

Bill, having lost his Lilith side, finally comes to terms with what he put Sookie through. Jessica convinces Bill to save Sookie, so with the help of Jason, Violet, Adaline and Andy, they rescue Sookie from her undead fate and face off against Warlow. Lilith's progeny finds himself staked into a pile of goo when Niall forces himself into the human world long enough to grab Warlow so Jason can attack him. Niall is rescued, Sookie is safe and all the vampires who had been able to walk in the sun no longer are able to. That's unfortunate for Eric, who decided to take his time off to sunbathe naked in the snowy mountains of Sweden.

While we might not know Eric's fate (though there's no way "True Blood" is killing off Alexander Skarsgard for good), the fun really begins in "Radioactive" after Warlow's defeat. The series fast-forwards six months into the future, and everything has changed. Sam is mayor of Bon Temps, Bill is writing books about his brief bout of godhood, Arlene now runs Merlotte's (new name: Bellefleur's), Jason is still Violet's sex slave and liking it, and, strangely enough, Alcide and Sookie are dating. The Hep V virus has infected about one eighth of the vampire population, meaning there are packs of hungry sick vampires roaming the countryside and an undocumented amount of infected humans potentially around to continue the spread of the disease. That where a new idea of "togetherness" comes into play: every human needs a vampire protective, and every vampire needs a new human to feed on.

Some citizens of Bon Temps rebel against the idea, but others are open to it. Tara's mom finally begs her daughter's forgiveness and asks Tara to feed on her, which her daughter obliges -- though we can't be the only ones who for a brief second Lettie Mae was trying to off Tara 's and for all for infecting her with Hep V. Jessica heads to Andy Bellefleur's home and offers him and Adaline her protection, still trying to make amends for killing his other daughters. And then there's Bill, who at the last minute comes to greet Sookie and Alcide and offer his former love his protection. He promises he can be trusted now, but Sookie appropriately notes that even on their best days she could never trust him. Their conversation is prematurely cut off when a huge pack of Hep V-infected vamps stumbles across the little human/vampire shindig at Bellefleur's and the episode ends.

Yes, "True Blood" has changed -- so much so that it's completely unrecognizable from where it began back in Season 1. But maybe that's a good thing? There's no denying that the show trimmed some of the fat in Season 6 and, even at its craziness, the show was better this season than it has been over the past few years. Maybe starting over with a whole new "True Blood" in Season 7 is going to be exactly what the show needs, though we'll be happy if they keep giving us shirtless Eric every couple of episodes.